Ratchet mechanism



E. W. BULLARD.

RATCHET MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED 0cT.5. 1920.

Patented Aug. 30, 1921 f j 2 SHEETS-SHEET l. ga W Ill [5 a9- I I n I E.w. BULLARD.

RATCHET MECHANISM.

. APPLICATION FILED OCT. 5. 1920.

PatentedAug. 30, 1921.

ZSHEETS-SHEET 2.

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, vBe it .known thatI, EDWIN W.

UNITED ST TE- ED IN W. BULIQARD, or WHITNEYVIL E, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOB,TO WINCHESTER PA OFFICE.

nnrnmrmsnnmsoo, or NEW-HAVEN, connno'rronr, A CORPORATION.

' narrower MECHANISM. 4

Specification of :LetterS Patent. Patnfied Aug, 30, 1921.

Application filed October 5, 1920; Serial No. 414,899.

new. and useful Improvement in Ratchet Mechanisms; and I doherebydeclare the following, when taken in connection with the accompanyingdraw-ings'and the characters of reference marked thereon,'to bea full,clear, and exact description of the same, and which saiddrawingsconstitute part of this application, and represent,; in-

Figure 1, a view in side elevation of abitbrace embodying my improvedratchet mechanism, the crank-lever of the brace being broken away. I i IFig. 2, a plan View thereof." Fig. 3, an enlarged viewthereof inverticalcentral longitudinal section.

Fig. 4:, an enlarged view in vertical transverse section on the line41-4 of F ig. 3.

Fig. 5,.a view in central horizontal section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 3,the PELWLOPBI'MDL ing ring being positioned to permit both pawls to beengaged with the ratchet.

Fig. 6, a corresponding view with the pawl-operating ring turned todisengage one of the awls from the ratchet.

Fig] a detached perspective view of the pawl-operating ring. i

Fig. 8, a detached view, partly in plan and partly in horizontal sectionof one of the paw ls. Fig. 9, a view thereof in side elevation.

Fig. 10, a view thereofin'front elevation. My invention relates to animproved ratchet mechanism of the type in which a pair of complementarlongitudinally-slidable contacting pawls are e'mployed'to coact with aratchet, the object of the invention being to produce a simple,convenient and reliable mechanism of the character de parts as will behereinafter described and pointed out in the claims- In carrying out myinvention as herein shown, I. employ a pawl operating ring? 11- locatedfor oscillatory movement in a transverseslot 12 formed in theratchet-sleeve 13 ofthe housing 14, into which the slot also extends fora short distance, as clearly shown in Figs. -'5 and 6. The said ring 11is 5 positioned by and turns upon a ratchet'15 located within the sleeve13'which is intergral with the housing 14 and stands at a right angleto'the longitudinal axis thereof. The

outer edge of the ring is knurled and projects just 'enough'beyond thesurface'of the. sleeve for being gripped by the user of the.

tool. That portion of the ring lying within the innerend ofthe slot 12,is formed with a segmental notch 16 adapted in length to l 7 permit thenoses of a pair of complementary, longitudinally-slidable, contacting,semicircular pawls 17 and 18 to be simultaneously engaged 'with theteeth of the ratchet, as shown in Fig. 5, these pawls be- 1 ing locatedina circular bore 19 formed in and concentric with the housing. Theouter end of the bore 19 receives one end of a bitbrace crank-lever 2Ofastened by a transverse pin 21. Helical springs 22 interposed betweenthe inner end of the crank-lever.

and the inner ends of the respective pawls provide forconstantly urgingthem into contact withthe teeth of'the' ratchet, the said springsentering holes 23 formed in the inner ends of the pawls.

For coaction with the ring 11,- the nose ends of the pawls are formedwith transverse slots 21, adapting the nose ends of the pawls tostraddle, as it were, the ring. The r bottom wall 25 of eachslot 24 hasits'outer end inclined as at 26 and its inner end beveled as at 27. Thenose end of each pawl is also beveled to form a ratcheting face 28 forcoaction with the teeth of the ratchet. The end walls 29 of the notch 16in the ring 11 coact at their extreme outer ends with the inclined faces26 of the pawls to retire them against the tension of the helical pawl.

erative'positions, its'edge is cut away adjacent to the outer ends ofthe walls 29, to form detent teeth 30 which coact with the bevels 27 ofthe pawls, as shown in Fig. 6, to yieldingly lockthe ring, which, whenso locked, can only be rotated by applying sufficient force to it toslightly compress the springs 22 and so permit the teeth 30 to ride outof engagement with the bevels 27. The

inner faces of the nose-ends of the pawls are formed with drivingnotches 31 coacting positively with the ratchet teeth for turning theratchet and driving the chuck 32, carried by the chuck head 33 of theratchet 15,

which is secured in place by ascrew 34, and a washer 35, which latterfits into a recess 36 in the upper end of the sleeve 13.

When the ring 11 is turned into its intermediate position, as shown inFig. 5, both pawls are permitted to ride over it, as it were, intoengagement with the teeth of'the ratchet,now locked positively to thecranklever 20. YVhen, however, the ring is turned in one direction ortheother, one of the pawls is retired out of engagement with the ratchetteeth, as shown in Fig. 6, in which adjustment the ratchet will bedriven when the cranklever is swung in the direction of the arrow a, andidly ratchet back when'the crank-lever is swung in the direction of thearrow b.

I claim: 1. A ratchet mechanism having a housing provided with aratchet-sleeve having a aeting with the ratchet, and an oscillatorypawloperating ring located in the said slot, positioned by and turningupon the said ratchet and coacting with the nose ends of the pawls foroperating the same.

3. A ratchet mechanism having a housing provided with a ratchet-sleevehaving a transverse slot, a ratchet located in the said sleeve, twolongitudinally-slidable contacting pawls located in the said housing andcoacting with the ratchet, and an oscillatory pawl-operating ringlocated in the said slot, encircling the said ratchet and formed with anotch adapted at its ends to coact with the pawls, when the ring isturned, to disengage the pawls from the ratchet and yieldingly lock themin such disengaged positions.

4. A ratchet mechanism having a housing provided with a ratchet sleevehaving a transverse slot, a ratchet located in the said sleeve, twolongitudinally-slidable oontacting pawls located in the said housing andhaving theirnose ends transversely slotted and formed with operating andlocking surfaces, and a pawl-operating ring installed in the slot in theratchet-sleeve and formed e with a notch and adapted at the ends of thesaidnotch to coact with the bottom walls of the slots in the nose endsof the pawls to disengage the pawls from the ratchet and yieldingly lockthem in such disengaged poan oscillatory pawl-operating ring installedin the said slot ofthe ratchet-sleeve and formed with a segmental notchthe end walls of which act as stops for limiting the oscil-- latorymovement of the ring and the outer ends of the said walls coacting withthe slots in the nose ends of the pawls for disengaging the samefrom theratchet and the'ring being adapted at either, end of the said notch forcoactingwith the pawls foryieldingly locking them in their disengagedpositions. In testimony whereof, I have signed this specification in thepresence of two suba;

scribing witnesses.

EDYVIN W. BULLARD.

\Vitnesses:

ERIK S. PALMER, A. E. HODGSON.

